This week’s chart shows CBO projections of American GDP growth from 2008 to 2016.  As the economy’s performance has continuously sputtered, projections have become increasingly pessimistic as the years pass and this recovery fails to meet expectations.

LAST WEEK

News & Commentary Weekly Highlights:

• CNBC: Unemployment rate is 4.9 percent, but a more realistic rate is higher than that (Friday)
• Wall Street Journal: Fed Sends New Signals About a Possible December Rate Increase (Thursday)
• Library of Law and Liberty: A Lawless Labor Agenda (Wednesday)
• Wall Street Journal: Banks No Longer Make the Bulk of U.S. Mortgages (Wednesday)
• Investor’s Business Daily: Thomas Sowell: Has Economics Failed? (Monday)

Top Economic Indicator Highlights:

• Employment Situation (October)
  • Unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted):
    • October: 4.9%; September: 5.0%; August: 4.9%;
• Nonfarm jobs (seasonally adjusted):
  • October: 161,000; August: 191,000; July: 176,000
• Noteworthy: The largest job gains occurred in education and healthcare (+52,000), professional and business services (+43,000), and financial activities (+14,000).  Losses were registered in mining and logging (-2,000) and manufacturing (-9,000).

JEC Releases:

• Coats Statement on October Jobs Report (Friday)
• JEC Republican Webapp Update (Friday)
• State Obamacare Premium Data Update (Tuesday)
• The ‘New Normal’? Part 3: Fiscal Recklessness (Tuesday)
• GDP Review: Context for Last Friday’s GDP Report (Monday)
• Nightmare on Main Street Series:
  • Zombie Environmental Regulations Hit Low-Income Communities the Hardest (Monday)

THIS WEEK

Upcoming Economic Data

• Monday
  • Consumer Credit (3:00pm)
• Tuesday
  • Job Openings and Turnover Summary (JOLTS) (10:00am)
• Wednesday
  • Wholesale Trade (10:00am)
• Thursday
  • Jobless Claims (8:30am)
• Friday
  • Michigan Consumer Sentiment (Preliminary) (10:00am)